MBTA expands timeline of nighttime Green Line Extension repairs

Green Line Extension riders face at least another week of nighttime disruptions starting Monday. The MBTA said the overnight closures will now last through Dec. 17.

GLX Constructors, the contractors that built the project, requested several more evening and overnight closures on the 4.4-mile expansion to complete track repairs, the T announced late Friday evening.

Since Monday, Nov. 27, officials have closed the extension around 8:45 p.m. each night to give crews more time to widen tracks, more than two-thirds of which are too narrow. GLX Constructors initially told the MBTA it could finish widening the rails by the start of this week, but now the contractors say they need at least another week of overnight work.

MBTA officials asked contractors to submit a complete list of staff, detail experience levels of workers who are on site, and produce a schedule for the remaining work with the "full list of resources dedicated to this effort."

GLX Constructors, a joint venture of contractors including Fluor Enterprises Inc., The Middlesex Corp., Herzog Contracting Corp. and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc., built the expansion that opened last year and is now responsible for repair work after officials discovered major problems with the rail gauge.

T higher-ups have said they intend to require the contractors to foot the bill for repairs.

"The MBTA is committed to ensuring that GLXC completes this work safely, thoroughly and expeditiously. We are disappointed that they could not complete their work on the Green Line Extension on the timeline that they previously projected and, at our direction, they will be bringing in more resources, including more crews," MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng said Friday. "We apologize to riders for this inconvenience, and we will continue to do everything in our power to deliver the longer-term, safe, and reliable service that they expect and deserve."

Meanwhile, shuttle buses are replacing trolley service on the D branch of the Green Line between Kenmore and Riverside Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 20. The nine-day diversion is happening so crews can work to remove slow zones.

With reporting from WBUR's Nik DeCosta-Klipa